Table Of ContentHugoGrotius’sRemonstrantieof1615
HugoGrotiusisoneofthesixjuristswhosestatuesstandoutsidetheSupremeCourtoftheNetherlandsin
TheHague.
Sculpture by Johan Polet, photo by René & Peter van der Krogt,
http://standbeelden.vanderkrogt.net
Hugo Grotius’s
Remonstrantie of 1615
Facsimile,Transliteration, ModernTranslations and Analysis
By
David Kromhout
Adri K. Offenberg
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Coverillustration:PortretvanHugodeGroot(1583–1645),MichielJansz.vanMierevelt(ateliervan),1631,
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/SK‑A‑581
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Grotius,Hugo,1583–1645,author.|Kromhout,David,1976-writerofadded
commentary.|Offenberg,A.K.,contributor.|Blankman,Marijke,contributor.|
Heertum,Cisvan,1958-translator.
Title:HugoGrotius'sremonstrantieof1615:facsimile,transliteration,modern
translationsandanalysis/byDavidKromhout,AdriOffenberg.
Othertitles:RemonstrantienopendedeordredijeindelandenvanHollandtende
WestvrieslandtdijentgesteltopdeJoden.English.|Remonstrantieonthe
regulationstobeinstitutedinHollandandWestFrieslandregardingtheJews
Description:Leiden;Boston:Brill,2019.|Includesbibliographicalreferences.
Identifiers:LCCN2019005678(print)|LCCN2019006792(ebook)|
ISBN9789004397446(ebook)|ISBN9789004396074(hardback:alk.paper)
Subjects:LCSH:Jews–Legalstatus,laws,etc.–Netherlands–17thcentury.
Classification:LCC KKM2467.M56(ebook)|LCC KKM2467.M56G7642019
(print)|DDC342.49208/73–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019005678
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ISBN978-90-04-39607-4(hardback)
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Contents
Foreword vii
MariankavanLunteren-Spanjaard
Prologue ix
PietHeinDonner
ListofIllustrations xvii
NotesonContributors xix
NotesonThisEdition 1
AdriK.OffenbergandDavidKromhout
1 IntroductionandAnalysisoftheRemonstrantie 6
DavidKromhout
2 FacsimileoftheOriginalTextwithTransliterationandModernDutchTranslation 57
AdriK.OffenbergandMarijkeJ.Blankman
3 EnglishTranslation:aRemonstrantieontheRegulationstoBeInstitutedinHollandandWest
FrieslandregardingtheJews 199
CisvanHeertum
Bibliography 217
Foreword
In2015itwasfourhundredyearsagothattheemi- DrJaapMeijerpreviouslypublishedanedition
nentjuristHugoGrotius,thenpensionaryof Rot- of the Remonstrantie in 1949, though without a
terdam,wrotehisRemonstrantieattherequestof retranslation or an English translation, so that it
theStatesofHollandandWestFriesland.Tomark was not accessible internationally. It was time to
theoccasion,chairmanJaapSajetof theMorasha engagewiththeRemonstrantieoncemore.
foundationtooktheinitiativein2014foraschol- Publishingtheworkofascholarasexceptional
arlystudythatplacedtheRemonstrantieinitshis- and eminent as Hugo Grotius requires much of
torical and social context, including a new com- everyone in the project.The researcher has to be
plete edition of the Remonstrantie with explana- well acquainted with the period and the issues
torynotes,afacsimileof theoriginal,aretransla- HugoGrotiuswasfacedwithin1616.Wearevery
tionintomodernDutchandanEnglishtranslation. fortunate that Dr David Kromhout expressed a
Asfellowboardmembersof Morashaatthetime greatinterestintheprojectandwasavailableand
wecouldnotimaginethevastscopeofthisproject. willing to do the research. Not only did he write
Sajet’svisionsurpassedourimagination. the article on the backgrounds to Grotius’ advi-
The Remonstrantiemarksthebeginningof the sory report, he also had to identify and translate
debateontheJewishpresenceintheDutchRepub- the numerous Latin references and notes in the
lic, by one of the greatest contemporary jurists. Remonstrantie.Weappreciatetheadviceprovided
GrotiusdiscussestheissueoftherightsofJewsin toDrKromhoutbyProf.MarcdeWildeandProf.
connection with the political and religious situa- HenkNellen.DrAdriOffenbergbroughthisgreat
tionintheDutchRepublic.Itistheprincipalpur- expertise as a book specialist at the Bibliotheca
poseof the Morashafoundationtopromotepub- Rosenthalianatobearonthetranscriptionof the
licationsonaspectsofDutch-Jewishhistorywhich seventeenth-centurymanuscript.
have so far been insufficiently explored. As such, As a historical text can be challenging to read
thiseditionishighlyappropriatetotheobjectives even when presented in a contemporary font, a
of Morasha. retranslation into modern Dutch in the edition
wasincluded.Thiswasaformidabletask,andwe
In1615HugoGrotiusgavehisviewonhowtodeal aredelightedwiththeresultprovidedbyMarijke
with the influx of Sephardi Jews at the request Blankman MA. She has come up with a contem-
of the States of Holland and West Friesland. In poraryretranslationthatneverthelessremainedas
thisRemonstrantienopendedeordredijeindelan- close as possible to the source text. Dr Cis van
denvanHollandtendeWestvrieslandtdijentgestelt HeertumtranslatedthisretranslationintoEnglish,
opdeJoden (A Remonstrantie on the Regulations usingtheAuthorizedVersionof1611forthebiblical
to be Instituted in Holland and West Friesland quotes so that these, too, are consonant with the
RegardingtheJews),Grotiusfirstraisedtheques- periodoftheRemonstrantieitself.WillKellycare-
tion whether Jews ought to be admitted in the fully read the final version of David Kromhout’s
first place. After having answered in the affirma- Englishtext.Wearehonouredbytheintroduction
tive, he considered the terms and conditions to by Piet Hein Donner LLM, who as former Justice
be applied to their admission. That the Remon- MinisterandVice-PresidentoftheCouncilofState
strantiewaseventuallyshelvedisnoreflectionon operatedattheinterfaceofpoliticsandscience,as
its contents. If anything, it had to do with the Grotiusbeforehim.
political situation in the Dutch Republic at the Ascientificcouncilwasestablishedtosupervise
time. theprojectandensureahighacademicstandard,
viii foreword
consistingof Prof.IreneZwiep,Prof.EmileSchri-
jver, Dr Adri Offenberg and Steph Scholten MA,
whowassucceededbyRachelBoertjensMAafter
heleftforScotland.Weareverygratefultothemall
for their dedication, their valuable contributions
andtheircommitmentinseeingthisbookthrough
to completion. We also thank Rachel Cilia Werd-
mölder MA for her expert assistance in the final
editingprocessofthebook.
Dr Ruud Koster coordinated all aspects of this
complexprojectfrombeginningtoendwithgreat
enthusiasmanddetermination,fromgrantappli-
cationstocontactswiththepublisher.
Inadditiontoagreatdealofworkandeffort,it
was necessary to find sponsors to make sure this
edition would see the light of day. We thank our
sponsorsanddonorsforhavingrespondedgener-
ouslytoourrequestforsupport,andsohavingpro-
videdthefinancialmeanstorealisethisedition.
OurdeepgratitudegoestoJaapSajet,chairmanof
Morashauntilhisdeathin2015,whowassocom-
mitted to the history of the Jews in the Nether-
lands.Hewastheinspiringforcebehindthispub-
lication,anditissadthatJaaphasnotbeenableto
seehisvisionreachfruition.
Thisbookisdedicatedtohismemory.
MariankavanLunteren-Spanjaard
Presidentof Morasha
October2018
Prologue
HugoGrotius’sRemonstrantie as the late 13th century, for example, there was
a Jodenstraat (Street of the Jews) in Maastricht,
The book you have in your hands is one of Hugo andbythe14thcenturythereisevidenceof Jew-
Grotius’slesser-knownworks,translatedintomod- ishcommunitieselsewhere.Butafterthedevasta-
ern Dutch, entitled: Remonstrantie betreffende de tion of the Black Death in the mid-14th century,
regelgeving die in Holland enWest-Friesland moet Jews were persecuted in many places for being
wordenopgesteldtenaanzienvandeJoden(Remon- the supposed cause of the epidemic. By the 15th
stranceregardingregulationsthatshouldbedrawn centurythecommunitieshadseeminglyvanished
up in Holland and West Friesland regarding the completely; there is, at any rate, no further men-
Jews).Grotiuswascommissionedtowritethetext tionoftheminthehistoricalrecord.
by the States of Holland, in his capacity as pen- Following the Reconquista in Spain, Ferdinand
sionaryof Rotterdam.Thisrequestwasprompted andIsabella(the‘CatholicMonarchs’)increasingly
by unrest surrounding the settlement of Jews in turned against the country’s Jews, who had lived
townsinHollandafterittranspiredthataresident there for hundreds of years under the protection
ofHoornhadconvertedtoJudaism.BecauseAms- of Moorishrulers.In1492theJewsof Spainwere
terdamandRotterdamwere,atthattime,theonly presentedwithastarkchoice:converttoChristian-
Holland towns with a Jewish community, their ity or leave the country; in 1497 a similar ultima-
pensionarieswereaskedbytheStatestodrawup tumwasissuedinPortugal.SomeoftheJewswho
aconceptofregulationsgoverningthesettlement choseexileendedupinAntwerporintownsinthe
andresidenceofJews.1 Rhineland.There,thepatternwasrepeated:in1549
Today, the Remonstrantie is primarily of inter- CharlesV,thegrandsonoftheCatholicMonarchs,
estasahistoricaldocument,anillustrationofthe ordered Jews who had sought refuge in Antwerp
problems confronting the young Dutch Republic toleavethecity.ThisdidnottriggerJewishmigra-
asabeaconoftolerationandprosperityinaworld tion to Holland, since Charles was the ruler of
wherebothwereinshortsupply.Assuch,itsheds that province as well. Indeed many Jews simply
lightsonthethinkingandpoliticalrelationshipsof remained in Antwerp; even then, the city fathers
early17th-centuryHolland,atthebeginningofthe knew a thing or two about ‘toleration’. But once
Golden Age. But it also holds up a mirror to our Antwerp fell into Spanish hands and the Dutch
owntime,inwhichtoexaminerecurringissueslike Republicseemedtobegainingtheupperhandin
migration,identityandcoexistenceindiversity. itswarwithSpain,Jewswhohadinitiallyfledelse-
where (especially Hamburg and Cologne), began
toseeksafetyinHolland,attractedbythespiritof
Background toleration in the Dutch Republic and the oppor-
tunitiescreatedbyitseconomicboom.Forexam-
Around1592/1593groupsofSephardicJewsbegan ple, in the 1590s a group of Sephardic Jews set-
settling in the towns of Holland. This was a new tledinAmsterdam,whileagroupofGermanJews
phenomenonforthetime,thoughJewishcommu- madetheirhomeintheareaaroundGroningen.2
nities had existed in a number of towns in the In the entry for 1598 in his Jaerboeken en Histo-
LowCountriesduringtheMiddleAges.Asfarback riën (Annals and Histories) Grotius mentions the
1 HansBlom,etal.,GeschiedenisvandeJodeninNederland 2 JonathanI.Israel,TheDutchRepublic(Oxford:OxfordUni-
(Amsterdam:UitgeverijBalans,2017),p.85. versityPress,1995),p.376.
x prologue
arrivalofPortugueseJews,citingfearoftheInqui- TheRepublichadnotraditionofbeingeitherforor
sitionandthehopeofsettingupaprofitablebusi- againstJews,6andCalvinismwasnotbydefinition
ness in Amsterdam as the twin motives for their hostiletothem.Theirstandpointshouldbeseenin
decision.Totranslatethisintocontemporarylan- thecontextofthe‘confessionalisation’7ofthepop-
guage:theywereamixtureof asylumseekersand ulation, the struggle over the position of Calvin-
economicmigrants. ism within society and its political influence on
Although we now talk about Jewish immi- governmentpolicy.TheDutchRevoltwasaccom-
grants, contemporary sources describe them as panied by a revolutionary reform of the Roman
‘newChristians’;inanyeventtheywerenotalways Catholic Church and the introduction of a new
openabouttheirreligion.AccordingtoSwetschin- (Reformed)ecclesiasticalorder.8Inthatsensethe
ski3 it was not until 1602 that the first public newChurchwasnowestablishedasaninstitution,
expression of Judaism is found, in the form of a but Calvinists were still in the minority. Around
statementbyamanaccusedoftraffickinginstolen the transition from the 16th to the 17th century,
goodswhogavehisreligionasJewish.Intheyears theCalvinists’aimwastoexpandtheirpositionin
thatfollowed,otherSephardicJewsstartedcoming society,inthefaceofcompetitionfromLutherans
‘outofthecloset’andbeganlookingintothepossi- andRomanCatholics.AlthoughtheStatesofHol-
bilityofopeningtheirownsynagogue.Duringthat landhadrecognisedfreedomof religion(andthe
sameperiodLutheransandMennoniteswerealso freedomtopractiseone’sreligion)atDordrechtin
pushingtheboundsof tolerationintheRepublic, 1572—towinoverthepublicfortherevoltagainst
while a number of towns had substantial Roman Spainandnottoalienateanyone—theprevailing
Catholicminorities.Itwaschieflythetownauthor- opinion among patricians and municipal author-
itiesthatwerecompetenttodecideonsuchmat- ities was that toleration of the public practice of
ters.ItthereforemadesenseforJewstoapproach otherreligionsjeopardisedsocialunity.Although
the towns with the most tolerant attitude. In his the town councils were often accused of ‘free
studyoftheRepublic,JonathanIsraelnoteshowa thinking’byorthodoxCalvinists,theytooviewed
groupofJewishfamilieswhohadcometoAmster- toleration with great suspicion, not unlike those
damfromVeniceandThessalonikisoughtpermis- wholookaskanceatmulticulturalismtoday.
sion from the town council of Haarlem to estab-
lish a synagogue there.4 When that request was
denied because of opposition from local Calvin- WhyDidGrotiusWritetheRemonstrantie?
ist consistories (church boards), they tried their
luckinRotterdamin1610.Theretheywereinitially ThebackgroundtotheRemonstrantiecanbefound
grantedpermission,butwhenthatpermissionwas in Blom’s History of the Jews in the Netherlands.9
revokedafewyearslatertheyreturnedtoAmster- The sheriff of Hoorn had arrested a certain Hans
dam,wheretheJewishcommunityhadmanaged Joostensz, who had converted to Judaism and
toorganiseitselfwithoutexplicitpermissionfrom together with his wife had begun making kosher
theauthorities.5 cheese for Jews in Amsterdam. The conversion
The consistories’ opposition to the establish- of Jews to Christianity was not a problem, but
mentofsynagoguesinthetownsandcitieswasnot
rooted in antipathy towards the Jewish religion. 6 D.M.Swetschinski,ibid.pp.80–84.
7 See J.I. Israel, op. cit., p. 361 et seq. See also H.A. Enno
3 D.M.SwetschinskiinBlometal.,GeschiedenisvandeJoden vanGelder,VrijheidenonvrijheidindeRepubliek(Haarlem:
inNederland,p.85. H.D.TjeenkWillink&Zn,1947).
4 Ibid.,pp.376–377.Seealsop.74etseq. 8 H.A.EnnovanGelder,RevolutionnaireReformatie(Amster-
5 A.T.vanDeursen,Delastvanveelgeluk(Amsterdam:Uit- dam:VanKampen&Zn,1943).
geverijBertBakker,2004),p.183etseq. 9 Blomop.cit.,pp.78/79and85.
